(Proposal ID) S12B-121

(PI) Koo, Bon-Chul

(Proposal Title)
Infrared-Excess Stellar Objects in the Supernova Remnant G54.1+0.3

(Abstract)
We propose COMICS N- and Q-band imaging observations of infrared-excess 
stellar objects in G54.1+0.3. G54.1+0.3 is a young supernova remnant (SNR6) 
which has recently attracted considerable interest by its associated infrared 
(IR) loop and embedded stellar sources discovered by AKARI and Spitzer 
infrared space telescopes. Two scenarios have been proposed for the relation 
between the stellar sources with IR excess and the SNR: (i) the stellar 
sources are young massive stellar objects whose formation was triggered by the 
progenitor of the SNR, and the IR-excess emission is from their circumstellar 
material, (ii) the stellar sources are massive stars in a cluster to which the 
progenitor of the SNR belonged, and the IR-excess emission is from the 
supernova ejecta dusts. The COMICS silicate filter sets provide sufficient 
sensitivity and spectral resolution to derive the exact shape of spectra, 
which together with the Q-band photometry will reveal the nature of dusts in 
this intriguing object. We also propose [Ne II] and Q-band imaging observations
 of the brightest compact source in the IR loop to investigate the spatial 
correlation between the SN ejecta and dusts, which is essential to understand 
the nature of this compact source.